Asia-Pacific Power List 2024: Jan-Paul Jeffrey, Spotify

Jan-Paul Jeffery 

Head of marketing, Asia
Spotify
Singapore
Member since 2022

Some would say Jan-Paul Jeffery has an easy brand to manage. The Swedish streaming giant dominates the industry, has an established subscription model, and has rapidly expanded its user base over the years. The platform’s promotions and investments in podcasts and audiobooks are all paying off. It all looks seamless from afar.

Yet, a key challenge for Jeffery lies in ensuring there’s no stagnation in the growth numbers and that the brand continues to dominate engagements, conversations and penetration in key markets.

To that end, Jeffery’s team executed campaigns that leveraged data, creativity, innovation and personalised gamification strategies to make the streaming giant a prominent growth engine in Southeast Asia; Jeffery’s remit recently till he earned head of marketing for the wider Asia market. Data from AppAnnie confirms Spotify's dominance in seven of eight focus markets. The brand was the most talked about on X (Twitter) in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia.  

Under Jeffery's direction, Spotify's annual Wrapped in SEA, the report of users’ listening habits, report witnessed unprecedented success, with viral sharing up by 58%

One of Jeffery’s many initiatives has been to complete another edition of Wrapped, Spotify’s annual report of users’ listening habits, and make it a successful season, with viral sharing up by 58%. This year's edition marked a global milestone with the introduction of 'Spotify Wrapped Live Indonesia 2023,' a groundbreaking three-hour-plus live TV extravaganza.

Extending beyond Wrapped, Spotify introduced a new music initiative called ‘Kalye X’ tailored for the Philippines. With Pinoy Hip-Hop witnessing a staggering 700% surge in regional streams since 2018, Spotify pledged continuous support for this genre on its platform via collaborations with artists, fans, and communities. As a way to bring Spotify’s Kalye Hip-Hop playlist to life, Spotify will work with emerging and established artists to bring original tracks and breathe life into the local music scene.

Another successful campaign from Jeffery’s team was the collaboration with the South Korean pop girl group NewJeans for the release of their sophomore EP, Get Up. New content, immersive pop-ups, and digital experiences that amplified the excitement surrounding the EP launch were part of this effort.

We could sing praises of every campaign he has signed off on and achieved a commendable ROI. However, Jeffery maintains his spot on the list not only because he is a prolific marketer and orchestrates key listening moments for fans in the region, or because he supports and amplifies local talent and women creators but also for his wider contributions to the industry. A prominent speaker at industry events, Jeffery dedicates time to mentoring emerging marketing talent and startups. 

He boasts more than two decades of experience in the industry, having joined Spotify in 2018 from Qantas-owned low-cost airline Jetstar. Prior to this, he spent nearly 16 years in super-luxury fashion and beauty categories, from start-ups to MNCs. After holding various sales and marketing product roles in the UK and Germany, Jeffrey relocated to Singapore in 2010 with P&G.